Apparatus for drawing sheet-glass.



- PATENTED mm 19, was I. W. GOLBURN & E. WASHBURN. APPARATUS FOR DRAWING SHEET GLASS. APYIIIGATIQR mum in! 20, 1904. RENEWED M30. 24. no. a slum-anal.

Fig. 1

WITNESSES I i t0 IZVENVEJS PATENTED JUNE 19., 1905. I. w. comauau 6; E. WASHBURN. APPARATUS FOR DRAWING SHEET GLASS, QPRLICATION FILED [Ly 20, 1904. RENEWED 24, 1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEETR 3.

NL/ENTDH/ WITNESSES A Af-i-mn Evs' 2 2 UNITED sTA rss PA'rE NT eerie.

IRVING W. JULBURN AND EDGAR WASHBURN, OF FRANKLlN, PENll-J SYLVANIA; SAID \VASHBURN ASSJGNOR TU SAlD UOLBURN.

APPARATUS FOR DRAWlNG SHEET-GLASS. i

Application filed May 20, 1904. Renewell'December 24, 1904. Serial No. 238,222.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, IRVING W. (oLnURN and EDGAR WAsnnURN, of Franklin, Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Apparatus for Drawing Sheet-Glass, which invention is frilly set forth in the following specification.

This invention relates to the art of glassworking, and more particularly to the art of drawing sheets ofglas's from a mass of molten metal. Heretofore many efforts have been made to draw a sheet of glass from a molten mass by a direct drawing action, and one of the great difliculties to overcome when sheets are to be thusdrawn is due to the tendency of the sheet of glass to draw to a narrow rod or thread, orin any event the tendency of the 'glass is to verv much narrow, so that a. sheet of re u'lar willth and thickness is'not pro duced.

In the application of Irving W. Colburn, Serial No. 178,912, filed October 28, 1903, there is shown and described an apparatus fordrawing a sheet'of glass, which sheet after it is drawnby the bait from the mass of molten metal is stretched sidewise bya series of rollers operating upon the opposite sides of the glass for that purpose. i

y The object of the. present inventionis to provide asimplified form of apparatus for drawing the sheet-glass of a uniform width and thickness without the necessity ot,.sub-

- jet-ting the glass to the action of the sidestretching rollers after the sheet has been drawn from the mass of molten metal.

With this object in view the invention consists first in. means for drawing the molten glass'in sheet form from a working ot containing a mass of molten glass, whic means act in the direction of the sheets length, conr hincd witlr'mcans for simultaneously draw-- ing the glass laterally and stretching the sheet laterally as it emerges from the molten mass. Preferably the last-mentioned means operates not -only to draw and stretch. the g laterally, but also to at the same time impart an upward movement to the molten mass, so'that the action of the side drawing and stretching means is outward and upward at an acute angle to the surface of the molten glass vin'tl'm working )ot.

For the imrpose oi enabling the workmen to manipul sired thickness under the various workifig Specification of Letters Patent.

ate the lass so as to get the da Patented June 19,1998.

conditions of the molten mass in the workingpot the bait which operates todraw the glass upward is provided with operating means which will enable the workman to impart various speeds thereto, and the lateral I drawing and stretching device is also pro vided with means for driving it at Various speeds. The means for operating the bait inv its upward movement and the lateral draw ing and stretching device may be either inanually operated or may be driven by power and provided with means for varying the spee( at which the devices mentioned are actuated hy the power. illustrating the principle of the invention there are herein shown inanuallyoperated For the purpose of,

devices for actuating the bait and side drawmg and stretching means. The glass saving been drawn and stretched to the desired width immediately ad acent to the surface of the molten glass in the Working pot, it is desirable in orderto maintain the sheet of even width and thickness that it should be.1nmiedi-ately-thercaiter so set or cooled that it w'iil not continue-to change its form under. the

ive cooling that may occur while passing the.

cooling apparatus means are provided by the present invention for suflieiently heating the surfaces of the drawn sheet to avoid cracking or checking under the drawing action. Any

suitable. means tor imparting the heat to the surface of the drawns icet may be employed.

For the purpose of ilhistrating the invern tion there is herein shown a set of gas-jets whose flame is directed upon the opposite surfaces of the drawnsheet, thou h other de vices which will suggest thenise ves to one.

skilled in the art may be employed.

In order that the glass may not oracle from the bait durinfi the drawing operation, 1t is desirable that the part should he of such o enings 5, which. openings are closed after character as to yield, so as to compensate for the contraction of the points where it is attached to the bait. For the purpose of thus permitting the bait to yield or contract with the contraction of the glass the present invention provides a corrugated metallic bait whos'e corrugations will permit the bait to yield sufficiently for the purpose mentioned.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the inventive ideas constituting the invention may receive various mechanical expressions without in any way departing from the spirit of the invention. For the purpose of illustrating and describing the invention one of the mechanical expressions which the invention may receive is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of the machine, the left-hand lower portion thereof being shown in section taken on line b b b i), Fig. 3. Fig. 2 is a side elevation with a portion of the machine shown in section, the section being taken on the line acac, Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a plan of the machine. Fig. 4 is a section glass as it cools at the K to talien on the line 0 c, Fig. 2, and showing the means for uniting the driving-gears to the beveled stretching-rollers; and Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the bait, taken on the lined d, Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, in which numerals refer to potof any suitable construction for containing the mass of molt'en glass, and 2 is the firebox surrounding said pot, heat being supplied to said fire-box in any suitable manner, as by burners 3 '3, the products of combustion being carried off by a suitable flue 4. The molten mass is supplied to the working pot 1 from a ladle or punty through an opening r line i t e glass has been poured into the working pot by means of lids or covers, these being provided with bails or handles 7 to facilitate their removal and replacement in position. The upper part of the working pot 1 and the fire-box or heating-chamber 2 may be entirely closed during-tho drawing operation and a long narrow slot 8 provided in the top of the fire-box through which the bait-is in- For thepurpose of setting or cooling the glass immediately after it has been drawn and. stretched to the desired width suitable cooling apparatus is provided. That herein shownconsists of two closed boxes 9 9, situ ated on opposite sides of the working slot 8, said boxes being provided withmeans for circulating a cooling medium, as water, therethrough, the inlet for said means being pipes 10 10 and the outlet-pipes 11 11, as clearlyshown in Fig. 3.

like parts, 1 is a working'p the manner clearly shown-in Fi 5.

v The tendency of the glass whens sheet is attempted to be drawn from a mass of molten i metal is for the sheet to gradually narrow and eventually pull to a rod or thread, and in the present invention we have provided means for continuously overcoming this narrowing tendency of the sheet during the draadng operation. As herein illustrated, these means consist of, conical rollers 12 12, situated adjacent to one face of the sheet as it is being drawn, one roller being near each edge of the sheet. These rollers 12 are mounted so that the apexos of the coneshaped rollers are dipped in the surface of the molten glass of the working pot '1 and are each geared to a revolving shaft 14, turning in bearings 15 on supports 16, resting on the main framework of the apparatus, the rollers being driven by a crank 13, connected to the shaft 14, and a set of bevel-gears 17 and 18, one upon the shaft 1 1 and the other upon the shaft 19 of the conical roller 12. at which the shaft is inclined to the surface of the sheet-glass being drawn and to the sur face of the molten glass in the working pot may be varied somewhat; but'it has been found that a very advantageous angle to emloy is one of about thirty egress inclination. oth to the surface of the sheet and to the surface of the molten glass of the working potl Preferably the rollers-12 are not integrally formed. with the driving-shafts 19 therefor,

but are separately connected thereto. This may be accomplished in any suitable manner, and, herein shown, this is done by providing'the roller with a polygonal head 21 engaged in a split or divided" socket 22, keyed to the shaftd the said split socket 22 having a downwardly-projectin part which takes into the interior of theiearings 23, and an enlarged head which bears upon the sides of said bearings, thereby affording a-bearing for the revolution of the roller and at the same time determining its immersion in the mass of molten glass in the working pot 1.

The bevehgears 17 and 18 are so mounted and constructed that the two conical rollers driven thereby shall revolve one with the hands of the clock and the otherein the re verse direction, the direction of movement of each roller bein u )ward toward the bait and outward toward the edge of the sheet being drawn, is clearly indicated by the arrows in Figs. 1. and 2.

The bait 24 is composed of sheet metal of suitable thickness, which is corrugated after h This bait is hung tosuitable drawing-cables 25 by ICC suitable attaching devices, as open rings 26,

and the cables are passed over sheaves 27, turning on shaft 28, supported in overhead bearings 29. passing over the sheaves 27 the cables are wound around the drum 30, carried on shaft 31, turnin in suitable bearin s 32 and driven by the rum-crank 33.

or the urpose of supplying the desired amount of eat to the surface of the sheetglass during the; drawing operation and after it has passed between the cooling-boxes 9 E) there is provided a set of burners 34,(shown in Fig. 2,) mounted upon a suitable frame 34 and supplied by a suitable conduit controlled bvvalve 36, whereby the amount of fuel sup' pied to the I ets, and hence the amount of lent'supplim 3 controlled.

to the sheet of glass, may be ()peretion: Themolten glass of the working pet I having been brought to the proper heat and working condition and the corrugated b zit 24 being previously heated or treated, so that the plastic glass will adhere plastic glass has firmly adhered thereto.

thereto, the sanieis lowered into the mass of molten gl:.ss and allowed to stand until the A cooling medium, aswater, is allowed to (ireulatelhrough the cooling-boxes t) 9 and the burners 34 are. lighted j After the glass has adliered lirmly to the bait the snme is started upward b the workman turning the crank from the working pot to form the lriteral por,

in action should be it lied with a force subo Pfl 33, and w ten the bait is raised to it sufficient height to allow the sheet to co e'into contact with the conical drawing siid stretching rollers 12 12 the rollers are started to revolvingin opposite directions -thet is, each in an upward direction, but each one then turning out toward one edge ofthe sheet of glass, as shown by the arrows in Figsv 1 end 2. These rollers will act to draw molten glass tions of the sheet and also to stretch the, sheet of glass-laterally, and thus prevent it from narrowing ordrawing to a string or thread, as it would otherwise do.

it hes been found that the lateral stretchstentislly equal to the orce eppliedfor drawing the sheet-less upward. Tliis may be varied somew let within I narrow limits, depending upon the working condition of the glass being treated and the character of the sheet being drawn; butep rox'imately the upwerd'drewing force a 'pIi applied to the i hould the not draw rollers should be about equal. workmen observe that the'sheet is ing tothe full width, he would increase the for by furnishing speed at which the conical rollers are moving,

or he might decrease the speed at which the f bait is moved upward, this being rovided 0th the rollers en the bait with driving apparatus Whicl may be operated at verying speeds and independent of each other.

The sheet having been drawn to the desired length, it is severed at the lower end from the mass of plastic less, by reversing the direction of rotation anclcrmtinuing the upward movement of the belt for a short distence, thereby cousin the lower end of the sheet of glass to quicklydrew to a cord or thread which can be easily severed, as with o coldircn, a pair of shears,

ed to the bait, and the lateral stretching orce 0 the rollers 12 12 or other suitable severing devices eniploved in the art. This mode ol-srwering the glass from thenniss of molten gloss lenves the latter in pru'i'eet condition lorthe operation of drawing a second sheet therefrom. When the lower end of the drawn sheet is detzzched,

it is rzised high'enough to eleel the burners and other working partsof the epparntus and then swung outward from over the work ing pot and hid horizontally upon suitable supports, after which the bit-II; is cracked oil in any usual or suitztble m: nner now known in the nth, when the sheet is rcrdyiorthe usual annealing process. "lhe' operation may then be repel: ted by attaching another bait to the drawing-cables and proceeding as before.

What is claimed is v 1. In an apparatus for drawing sheet-gloss,

it receptacle containing molten glass, means for drawing glass therefrom in s root form in tt longitudinal direction, and two surfaces revolvin in o )posite; directions and engaging the n'idlten" g ass in the receptacle and a face of the sheet as drawn.

v 2. In an apparatus for drawing sheet-glass, a receptacle containing molten less, means for drawing glass therefrom in s root form in a longitudinal direction, and two oppositelyrevolving rollers engaging the molten glass in the receptacle and :ifece of the drawn sheet;

3. In an apparatus for drawing sheet-glass, a receptacle containing molten less, means for drawing glass'tlmreirorn in s root form in a longitudinal direction, and two oppositel revolving conical surfaces engagin r t e molten glass in the receptacle and a face of the sheet as drawn.

Ioo

4; In an apparatus for drawing sheet-gless,

a receptacle containing molten glass, means drawing glass therefrom in sheet form in It longitudinal directiori, and two conical rollers revolving in opposite directions each hawing a portion of their surface dipping into the massof molten glass in said receptacle and e portion enga ing the surface of the sheet as drawn where sud rollers serve not onl to drew glass from the receptacle to form a portion of the sheet, but also tostretch said sheet laterally; l

5. In an apparatus for drawing sheet-glass, a receptacle containing molten glass, Ineens drawing glass therefrom in sheet form iii a longitudinal direction, and two opposite revolving surfaces whoseexes of rotation are tetionsre inclined etenfsngle to the surface inal direction, and two oppositelyof the molten glass and to the surface of the drawn sheet, said revolving surfaces enga ing the molten glass in the receptacle and a ace of the sheet as drawn.

7. In-an apparatus for drawing sheet-glass, a receptacle containing molten glass, means drawing glass therefrom in sheet formin a longitudinal direction, two oppositely revolving surfaces whose axes ofrotation are inclined-at an angle to the surface of the molten glass and to the surface of the drawn sheet, said revolving surfaces en aging the molten glass in the-receptacle and-aface of thc'sheet-as drawn, and devices for operating said-surfaces at variable speeds.

8. In an apparatus for drawing sheeteglass, a receptacle containing molten glass, means drawingglass therefrom in sheet-form in a longitudinal direction, 'tw'o oppositely -re volving' conical surfaces whose axes of rotation are inclined-atan angle to the surface of the molten glass-and to'the surface of the drawn sheet, said "revolving surfaces engaging the molten glass in= the rece tacle and a face of the sheet as'drawn, an devices'for operating said surfacesatvariable speeds.

91111 an apparatus for'drawing-sheet glass, a. receptacle containin 'molten glass, means for drawing glass there cmin sheet formina longitudinal direction, two revolving surfaces turning in opposite directions and engaging the'ia-ce ofsaisd-sheetwithin said receptacle. I

10. In an apparatus "for drawing sheetglass,.-a receptacle containing molten glass, means drawing glass therefrom in sheet form in a longitudinal direction, and two oppositely-revolving surfaces havin axcs of rotation inclined atan acute angIeto-thc surface of-said sheet-and'to-the surface of the molten glass insaid receptacle and each engaging-a face of sai'd sheet and the molten glass in the receptacle.

1 1. In an apparatus'for drawing sheetglass,a receptacle containing molten lass,

means drawing glass therefrom in sheet orm, and two conical surfaces each engaging a face of said sheet adj aeent the surface of the molton glass, and means revolving said conical surfaces n opposite directions.

1'2. In an apparatus for 'drawing sheetglass-a receptacle containing-molten glass,

means drawing lass therefrom in sheet form, two conical sur faces within said. receptacle. each engaging a face of said sheet adjacent to the surface of the molten glass, and means revolving-said Surfaces in opposite directions.

of said sheet adjacent-to eae 13. In an apparatus for dmsvingsheet glass, a receptacle containing molten lass, means drawing glass therefrom in sheet' orm, two conical surfaces each engqag'ingthe face and means revolving said surfaces in opposite directions. 1

14. In an apparatus for drawing "sheetglass, a receptacle containing molten-glass, means for drawing glass therefrom in sheet form, two conical surfaces engaging the: molten, glass in said-receptacle and a? face of the sheet as drawn, means revolving said surfaces in opposite directions, and means cooling the sheet as drawn.

15. In an apparatusfor drawing sheetglass, a receptacle containingmoltem lass, means drawing glass therefrom iii-sheetorm, two surfaces each engaging the molten-glass in the receptacle and the lateral portions of the face of the sheet, means revolving sziid surfaces in opposite directions, and means for supplying heat to the qppositefacesof the sheet during the drawing operation.

16. In an npparatus for drawing gglass a receptacle contaiiiin molten glass, a'corrugated shect mctiil batip -nndmcansfor' lowering said bait into saidreceptacle andwvitlr drawing it therefrom.

1,7. in in a )paratus 'forfdrawing glass,.'a receptacle ioni'aining moltenglass, a corrugated bait, means for lowering saiid bait into the molten glass in said receptaclennd withedge thereof,

drawirig it therefrom, and a pl-urnlit of opposit-el v-1'evolving surfaces en a 'ing the molten glass in said receptacle amd the face of the sheet as drawn.

=18. Inl an apparatus for drawingglass, a corrugated sheet-metal bait, a rcce tacle containing molten glass, andinea-ns or operating said bait.

19. In an apparatus for drawing glass,.n-

specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. I

- IRVING W.-C( )LBURNQ EDGAR WASIIBURN. Witnesses:

Tno u'as McGowan, 'IIJW. ROWLAND. 

